# Cleaning/Restoring a Gourd Calabash



## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

Yesterday I won an auction for an estate Pioneer Calabash. I feel like I got a deal on it, but maybe not as I have yet to actually see the pipe. Knowing that it is an estate, I assume it's going to need to be cleaned up a bit so does anyone have any tips on how to do that? Or has anyone sent one out to be refurbished? I saw Tim West will fit it with a new meerschaum bowl but besides that can the outside be refinished or cleaned up in any way? What about the inside chamber? I've bid on a couple other calabash pipes in the last couple weeks but in the last second when I put my bid in was outbid buy a higher bid. Including a nice 50's Kaywoodie calabash that went for over $110

Here's the one I won, hopefully it's as decent as the pictures make it out to be.


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## FiveStar (Jan 7, 2010)

That's a fine looking pipe Derrick, and judging by the coloring (or lack therof) on the bowl I'd say you should be fine to clean it up yourself. The only thing I've read about cleaning these has to do with the gourd, and the consensus was that swirling a decent amount of everclear inside was the way to go.

I don't know what to do about the meer portion, but I like the sleek lines of this one and would be tempted to leave it be rather than replace it. The beauty of meer is that it doesn't ghost right? So other than carefully removing any cake that might be there (VERY carefully) I'd say you're good to go right?

Magic eraser and a bit of MAAS wil certainly shine that stem up if needed, and a bundle or two of bristle pipecleaners and everclear will have the inside clean and ready to smoke.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

Thanks, I have no idea why this one went for a cheap as it did when there are pipes that don't look nearly as nice aesthetically as this one and they are bid up to double or triple the price.


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## skydvejam (Feb 27, 2011)

Commander Quan said:


> Thanks, I have no idea why this one went for a cheap as it did when there are pipes that don't look nearly as nice aesthetically as this one and they are bid up to double or triple the price.


Joys of flea bay


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## Twiggz (Feb 15, 2009)

Commander Quan said:


> Thanks, I have no idea why this one went for a cheap as it did when there are pipes that don't look nearly as nice aesthetically as this one and they are bid up to double or triple the price.


The ebay gods were smiling on you :smoke2: It looks like its in great shape from that pic.

I'm still keeping an eye out for a goard calabash. But like you've seen with the others, they just seem to go for too much even when they are beat up.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

Commander Quan said:


> Thanks, I have no idea why this one went for a cheap as it did when there are pipes that don't look nearly as nice aesthetically as this one and they are bid up to double or triple the price.


Looks like there's a couple chunks missing on the gourd portion. You should be able to redo the entire gourd by sanding it down lightly with high grit paper -600-800-1000-1500 and then restain the entire gourd with some aniline leather/clothing dye.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

Yeah it actually has a Fleur de lis (ish) shape carved into the front of it and another carving around the curve of the gourd. I'm not crazy about that but it is what it is.


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## FiveStar (Jan 7, 2010)

I bet you dollars to donuts it smokes like a million bucks, carvings be damned! Don (Herf n' Terf) swears that the best smoking pipe he ever owned was a Calabash. The thermodynamics of the design seem to warrant that in and of themselves. Meer=dry, gourd=tons of airspace for cooler smoke.

Now you're going to have to get yourself a stand for that thing.

Just remember never to smoke it in public. (Not that you'd want to take such a fragile thing out into the light). The overwhelming influx of Sherlock Holmes references would probably turn you away from pipes for the rest of your life.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

Looks wonderful Derrick. I bet that one will clean up great with just a wipe down and wax.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

I wouldn't mess with the gourd exterior at all other than wiping with a damp cloth if it's grungy. Clean the stem and ferrule with any typical method.

The bowl appears to be ceramic. I am no expert on Pioneer pipes but my circa-1970, which arrived new-in-box/unsmoked, was pressed meer. I recall reading somewhere that pressed meer was the standard bowl on a Pioneer calabash but that's just hearsay. Personally, I don't like the white, scorched look you get with ceramic bowls and, if the pipe wasn't to dear, I'd refit with meer. You can buy $30-$50 meer replacement bowls approximately sized and file them to fit or le a qualified pipemaker fit one for you. Fit of the bowl to the cork ring inside the gourd is crucial becuase it must be airtight. If you're not wild about the carved gourd you might think twice about spending more on a new bowl.

You want to avoid recorking if possible because it's just a niggly pain in the ass as a DIY. Take care when initially removing the bowl not to tear up the cork; if the cork is stuck to the bowl because somebody left some grunge on it, don't force it out and maybe rip out a chuck of dried-out cork along with. Go slow with some heat (hairdryer) and try to ease the bowl out without any drama.

The inside of the gourd will accumulate grunge over a number of smokes. If someone left the pipe loaded with tar/ash, gently spoon out what you can without gouging the gourd or rubbing it on the cork gasket; remove the stem, pour Everclear into the gourd, swish it around a little and let it dissolve the grunge for a few minutes. Keep the sludge off the cork when swishing and pour the mess out the FERRULE end, not the BOWL end. You may need to repeat this a couple of times depending on how grungy the gourd guts are. When it smells sweet, you're done. Let the gourd sit out, maybe overnight, until it's dry and you're back in business. I clean out the gourd on my pipe when it shows visible accumulation; it only takes a minute or two to clean it out if you're starting with something that's well maintained. If you wait until it smells bad, you waited too long.

That's the deal. Enjoy that big boy.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

That's what I needed. Thanks Moo


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## socman (Jun 23, 2010)

Dear friends-to-be...

My issue is a bit different. Although it appears most of the calabash classic pipes have a removeable meer insert, occasionally you see one like mine (pictured). The seller described this as an "internal meer bowl". This bowl appears NOT to be removeable. BTW some of this "internal" style have metal caps or decorative rims, some do not. So my questions:

1. Am I wrong? Is this "internal bowl" actually removeable for cleaning?

2. If not, how is cleaning done? Through the small opening? With both ends up, like a "U", can I inject an amount of alcohol and position the "U" such that the nasty bend area gets a soak, while leaving the "internal meer" above and dry? Then clean through the small opening with long PC's, or possibly a long shank brush?

3. Last, how often is cleaning required?

3. Is this pipe destined to become nasty and uncleanable?


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

If you haven't received it yet, wait till you get it and post some pictures of the inside of the bowl. 

Internal cleaning doesn't need to be done that often, and if you're careful you should be able to do everything through the stem side except clear the draft hole in the bottom of the cup.


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## Heath (Aug 16, 2013)

there is no insert the Calabash is lined witg plaster of paris not removable. I know who you got that from it should be clean and ready to smoke. as far as cleaning its the same as most other remove stem and run ye old pipe cleaner on through. some have sterling silver rings some don't looks like this one didn't. let me know if you have any other questions I know someone with answers.


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## socman (Jun 23, 2010)

Heath said:


> there is no insert the Calabash is lined witg plaster of paris not removable. I know who you got that from it should be clean and ready to smoke. as far as cleaning its the same as most other remove stem and run ye old pipe cleaner on through. some have sterling silver rings some don't looks like this one didn't. let me know if you have any other questions I know someone with answers.


If you are referring to this Calabash...









...it was NOT ready to smoke, as it had only received a quickie exterior polish and reaming. The lip was dirty, and the stem still brown near the ferrule. It needed a good interior cleaning, the stem needed deep cleaning, the lip was refreshed and the gourd received a good multiple polish and waxing...









As you can see, now this Calabash is back in excellent condition. However, I wish to speak to this design as part of the history of producing the Calabash, and I'll finish by sharing how this type of non-removeable bowl design was cleaned. First the history. There are really two basic styles of Calabash...

1. "Top Bowl" style - the removable, mushroom capped meer bowl style, common. Cleaning through the trumpet end. This is the style that most think of as the Sherlock Holmes' Calabash. It is visually unwieldy and bulky, and heavy enough to inhibit clenching. At a point the cork seal will wear out. The removeable bowl is fragile and must be handled very carefully.

2. "Sunken Cup" style (like this one) - the non-removable sunken meer bowl - sometimes covered by a silver cap. Cleaning through the ferrule. This style actually was once the most common. Visually it is much more graceful and swoopy, similar to the modern Zulu shape. Without the bulky mushroom, it is notably lighter and indeed clenchable.

It is interesting to note how these two styles were originally made in the early 1900's:

*The Holmesian "Top Bowl" style*

The properly shaped and dried gourd was first cut appropriately. In the first method, a hole was cut into the small end, what we'd call the stem. Into this hole is force threaded "...a crooked rubber mouth-piece with its ivory-threaded nipple". This "stem" was considered to be rather permanent, and not intended to be removed.

Now to the trumpet end. Likewise this was cut to be somewhat larger than the intended size of the "cheap" meerschaum bowl. A layer of wet plaster of Paris was smeared around the inside of the circumference; while still wet, the classic mushroom shaped meer bowl was inserted and twisted, and removed before the plaster completely sets. Then a thin layer of the plaster was scraped away, to be replaced by a thin layer of cork.

This was the classic "Top Bowl", Holmesian Calabash, with the removable bowl we think of. So far so good.

*The "Sunken Cup", non-removable bowl style*

This time the small end/stem/neck was fitted with a metal ferrule and what they called a "push stem", but now with a removable tapered stem of the sort we think of. Now here's where it gets interesting: now they advised a permanent, non-removable bowl molded completely of plaster of Paris, thus reducing production costs.

The method is devilishly simple: a round disk of thin cardboard (with a small hole in the middle) was cut to fit the gourd at the level of the bottom of the intended bowl, and coated with about 1/4" of plaster. Then an appropriately sized greased glass (the size of the bowl) was inserted to form a core, and plaster applied to fill the gap between the glass and the gourd. When half set, the glass was removed, and the draught hole was pierced in the center, for a permanent plaster bowl. In other words, like my Calabash, pictured here.

Way back when the "Sunken Cup" style was more common, as it was less expensive to produce. Today, this style is extremely rare. Both styles were intended to be cleanable, the Holmes' Top Bowl by removing the bowl, and the Sunken Cup by removing the stem.

*How I finally cleaned the interior of the gourd*

1. I removed the stem and supported the gourd in an upright "U" position (both openings facing up).

2. Using a syringe, I carefully filled the gourd with Everclear until the alcohol began to come up through the draught hole in the bowl, then let it soak for about 5 minutes or so. Then put a gentle bend in a PC, and swabbed the interior a number of times, and repeated with several more PC's, and then finally emptied out the now VERY nasty black/brown alcohol.

3. I repeated this perhaps four or five times, until the alcohol poured out was only lightly tinted.

I decided to quit at this point, as I decided that the gourd had properly absorbed a certain amount of tars, etc (which gives the gourd that lovely brown highlighted exterior color), and felt that it was appropriate to leave the absorbed materials alone. I then let the gourd dry out for a week or so. All that remained was a nice clean aroma. I do hope this information is of value, and thank the two posters who offered their advice.


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## NeverBend (Aug 29, 2009)

Hi Socman,

Welcome with a bang - great post, thanks for sharing.

Derrick, you've already had your calabash a long time, I hope that it's smoking great but to add to Mr.Moo's comments.

Pioneer was distributed by Hollco-Rhor (who had the Wally Frank stores). They did indeed sell two models of your calabash, meerschaum or ceramic.

I saw them in stores beginning in the 1960s through the early 1980s though they may have been available longer.


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